Chinese Seitan Making 101 (面筋制作)
Plus recipes for "Four Joy" Gluten and Cumin Fried Gluten (四喜烤麸/孜然炒面筋)
Gluten Base
AP Flour (中筋面粉), 500g
Salt, 2g
Water, 275g
Process:
Mix the above ingredients until combined, let it sit - covered - for 40 minutes.
Knead for ~8 minutes, then let it rest for another 15.
'Wash' the gluten by kneading it underwater. Change the water when it gets creamy looking. Repeat 5-6 times, or until the starch liquid looks more 'skim milk' than 'cream'. Place in a strainer and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.
To Make Firm Gluten:
This recipe will use half of the above 'Gluten Base'.
Slice the gluten into 2-3 pieces. Shape each piece into ~8 inch logs, then relax for 10 minutes.
Wrap the gluten around a chopstick to shape. Boil the sticks for twelve minutes, then shock with cool water.
To Make Spongy Gluten:
This recipe will use half of the above 'Gluten Base'. In addition:
Sugar, ¼ tsp
Dry instant yeast (酵母), ⅛ tsp
Fold ¼ tsp of sugar and ⅛ tsp yeast into the gluten base. Shape into a ball, place in an oiled bowl. Cover, ferment for one hour.
Place the bowl in a steaming set-up. Steam for 16 minutes over a medium-high flame. Shut off the heat, and let everything chill inside the pot for at least a half hour.
Remove the gluten from the bowl.
Cumin Fried Gluten
Spice Mix:
Cumin (孜然), 1 tsp
Sichuan pepper (花椒), ½ tsp
Firm Gluten (水面筋), 150g
Oil, preferably sunflower or caiziyou, 1.5 tbsp
Garlic, two cloves. Minced.
Medium green chilis, two. Cut into strips.
Medium onion, half. Sliced.
Five spice powder (五香粉), ½ tsp
Chinese chili powder -or- cayenne pepper, ½ tsp
Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
Seasoning:
Salt, ¼ tsp
sugar, ¼ tsp
MSG (味精), ¼ tsp
Process:
'Half pound' 1 tsp of cumin and ½ tsp of Sichuan peppercorn - your goal is to basically crack them open. Set aside.
Slice half of a medium onion, and set aside. Mince two cloves of garlic, and also set that aside.
Tear the 150g of firm gluten into strips – roughly ‘shredded chicken’ size. Blanch for one minute. Cool the seitan down under some cool water, and give it a good squeeze to remove the moisture.
Then, toast the gluten. Get the wok piping hot, shut off the heat, then sprinkle the gluten on. Toast over a medium high heat – roughly one minute on each side. There will be some intense stickage – do not panic, this is normal. Simply scrape what to can together with the gluten. Once browned, scooch up the side of the wok.
Add a tablespoon half oil to the wok together with the minced garlic. Fry until fragrant, ~15 seconds. Add the half-pounded spices, and fry that all together until fragrant. Add ½ tsp of five spice powder and chili pepper together with the sliced onion, quick fry, then mix everything together. Quick ~30 second stir fry, then swirl in the soy sauce over the spatula and around the sides of the wok. Season with a ¼ tsp each salt, sugar and MSG.
Four Joy Gluten
Dried shiitake (冬菇), 20g
Dried wood ear mushroom (木耳), 20g
Dried day lily (黄花菜), 15g
Dried peanuts, 20g
Spongy gluten (烤麸), 150g
Soy sauce (生抽), 2 tbsp
Dark soy sauce (老抽), 1 tsp
Sugar, 4 tsp
Seasoning:
Salt, ¼ tsp
MSG (味精), ¼ tsp
Process:
In separate bowls for each, soak 20g of dried shiitake, 20g of wood ear mushroom, 15g of dried day lily, and 20g of dried peanuts with cool water. Soak for three hours.
After that time, prep the ingredients. Squeeze the shiitake, remove the stems, and cut into ~½ inch chunks. Strain and reserve the shiitake soaking liquid. Tear the wood ear into similar sized pieces. Line up and remove the hard end from the dried day lily.
To prep the spongy gluten, first tear 150g worth into half inch chunks. Blanch for one minute, cool down under running water, and really squeeze it as dry as possible.
In a wok with ~1.5 cups oil, toss in the blanched gluten with the flame still off. Slowly fry while stirring over a medium flame. Your goal is for the gluten to turn a light golden brown color, ~8-12 minutes. Remove and strain the gluten. Dump the oil out from the wok, leaving only a thin shmear remaining.
Same wok, flame on medium high, fry the shiitake chunks until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Add in the shiitake soaking liquid. Add in the other three dried ingredients together with the deep fried gluten. Add enough water so that everything is barely submerged. Add in 4 tsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, and 1 tsp of dark soy sauce.
Cover (or cover with the lid ajar if the lid is heavy and tight fitting), braise on medium low for 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes, season with ¼ tsp each salt and MSG. Up the flame to high and let the sauce rapidly reduce, until the sauce can cling to the ingredients and develops a bit of a sheen.